SEASON! PREVIEWS!! ARE!!! HERE!!!! What you’re about to read over the next few months may be some of the most insanely idiotic guesswork you’ve ever seen. At no point in our rambling, incoherent previews will we be even close to anything that could be considered rational thought. In fact, all of you readers may be collectively dumber for having read it. May God have mercy on your souls. This is the first of four planned previews this week (the over/under of how many are published is 2.5), so check back as we begin the two month slog of team deep dives to get us ready for the looming spring season. Today we bring you a first look at a team most of the bloggers are ready to dismiss, but a few of us are caught looking at each other with raised eyebrows because…well honestly we are surprised to not be a part of that dismissive group. While I’ve been burned by Tufts before, they really do have the talent to make a Brandeis-like push, and this Jumbo squad has the potential to be sized for a glass slipper…
LOCATION: Medford, Mass.
COACH: Karl Gregor. 5th season as Head Coach, 10th overall at Tufts. Congrats on a decade, Coach!
ASSISTANT COACH(es): Nick White & Conor Hudson. Nick and CHUDDY are a dynamic duo in terms of assistant coaches with DIII star power! Both are in their first season in Medford, although both have been assistant coaches before, Nick White at MIT for a while, and at Babson before that and Chuddy at PP. Their attitudes should balances each other out a bit…
TWITTER HANDLE: @TuftsMensTennis. Excellent for updates when winning/doing well. Still among the more reliable when not doing well.
2019 ITA NATIONAL RANKING: 17th
2019 ITA REGIONAL RANKING: 9th
2019 BLOG POWER RANKING: 17th
2018-2019 FINISH: A somewhat disappointing year from the start petered out in the 1st round of NESCACs. That said, making NESCACs, while expected, was not a given, and they stomped on Bates and Colby in the final weeks of the regular season to earn that playoff berth. They also played Midd close in that NESCAC Quarterfinal, taking a 2-1 lead after doubles before eventually falling 5-3.
KEY ADDITIONS: Josh Belandres (from CA), Matthew Cashin (from NY), Stephan Lhuillier (from The Philippines) and Rishabh Sharda (from India)
KEY DEPARTURES: Ross Kamin was somehow the only senior on last year’s squad, and his only spring singles appearance was against Conn College.
TWEET LENGTH REVIEW OF THE FALL: Boris Boris, he’s our man, if he can’t do it we…actually might have a couple other younger guys who can?!
STOCK WATCH: Bolded arrow pointing upwards. Buy now while they aren’t as known commodity, and some of the other bloggers will still just assume Tufts gonna Tufts.
BEST CASE SCENARIO: Tufts’ top 3 prove lethal, and some combination of the many players anchors this team to three or four points per singles match, the Bos not only make a jump towards the top-10, but make noise at NESCACs winning a match and earning their first ever NCAA bid via Pool-C!
WORST CASE SCENARIO: Dissension from within, sadly not a new topic with this program, and we see yet another year of wasted talent as Tufts not only fails to beat the five conference teams ranked ahead of them, but also drops two early matches on their spring break and loses to either MIT or Bates, both of which the Bos have to play away in late March where they will almost certainly be indoors. Tufts careens down into the mid-20’s and have only one year remaining of their best player in program history.
BOLD PREDICTION: Isaac Gorelik or Rishabh Sharda, not Boris Sorkin, will have the best singles record in dual matches this spring. Boris’ competition will be that much stiffer, and I believe that one of (or hopefully both) Isaac and Rish will continue to develop into one of the best #2’s out there.
NOT-SO-BOLD PREDICTION: Tufts will make NESCACs. Yes, really not-so-bold on the surface, but let’s remember that during the careers of the current Tufts seniors, the Bos have missed NESCACs more often than they’ve made it…*NE EDIT*: NESCACs will actually include eight teams this year, making this even less of a bold claim. My original not-so-bold prediction of a top-six finish still stands.
3 RANDOM THOUGHTS…
- Improved doubles: I’ll get into more detail in the lineup analysis, but Tufts’ doubles had a very good fall, and all without Mr. Niemiec, who played with Boris last spring. Last year we saw the Bos rotate their doubles a lot, with some success, but it appears that Sorkin and Belandres have something working. If they can compete at the top against what will almost certainly the top teams in the region and the country (Williams, Wesleyan, Brandeis, Amherst etc.) that brings an entirely new dynamic to Medford.
- Role of the seniors: As you can see by the roster pic at the top of the article, Tufts has 18 guys, five of whom are seniors this year. Only one of them, Ethan Bershstein is a captain (along with Boris). What will be the role of the other four seniors? Names we know like Biswas, Niemiec, Scanlon and Shaff, all of whom have played over their career, will they help this team accomplish its goals both by leading both on and off the court? We could see a senior rotation in the bottom of the doubles lineup, but whether or not they are on the court is not the only thing they bring to the table. I know some of you will think the this unimportant, believing that leadership in the quiet moments off the court is far outweighed by on-court performance, but I promise you it is not.
- Anchor…man: Can somebody hold the anchor spot in the singles lineup? Tufts has a history of rotating players in the bottom half of their lineup, especially when ineffective. It has slowed down some of late, but in order for Tufts to achieve what the players believe they are capable of achieving this spring, they are going to need to find a player who can consistently get wins at #6 singles and permanently close the revolving door.
1) Boris Sorkin, junior, UTR=12.49, Range: #1-1. What else can I say here? I’m pretty sure last year in my Tufts season preview I just linked back to whatever Ode to Boris I had typed last October. This year, I must’ve been particularly lazy because I didn’t write anything after the event, just predicted that he would win it! The biggest difference (tough to look for difference when both years involve not only winning the New England ITA, but also a National Championship) between this fall and last fall for the Russian Rocket is his improved doubles! He and freshman Josh Belandres won the the A-Flight at Midd to kick off the fall, made the finals of the ITA where they lost in the 3rd set to the #1 seeds, and won two out of three doubles matches at Small College Nationals as well. As I said above, if Tufts has formidable doubles this year…watch out.
2) Isaac Gorelik, sophomore, UTR=11.78, Range: #2-3. As impressive as Boris’ fall was, I think Isaac’s was equally if not more so. Granted, our expectations were on a different level, but there is a reason I listed Isaac as one of my breakout players to watch at the end of last spring. He won the A-Flight at Midd, beating Morris (projected Midd #1), Williamson (projected Skid #2), Coramutla (projected Deis #2-3), and Altmeyer (projected Colby #1). Then, he won multiple 3-setters at the ITA including over Yang (projected Bowdoin #1). At Bates, he made the finals of the A-Flight before falling to Altmeyer, and he lost an insane 12-10 super to Lilienthal on his home courts (projected Wes #2-3) at Wes. NOT TOO SHABBY, MR. GORELIK! I’ve now added to my timeshare on Gorelik Island and also have a rentable condo, but the fee is going up.
3) Rishabh Sharda, freshman, UTR=12.07, Range: #2-3. Ah the inflated freshman UTR. That said, Sharda did more to back his up this fall than most. Like Isaac, he won at Midd, taking the B-Flight singles crown in his FIRST EVER COLLEGIATE TOURNAMENT. He lost 6-4 in the 3rd to Midd freshman Aiden Harris in a match I’m guessing we will continue to see for the next 3+ years, and lost to Altmeyer in the 1st round at Bates, but he ended his season by winning the entire A-Flight at the star-studded Wes invite notching wins over Anker (projected Wes #2-4), Yang, Ma (projected Amherst #2-3) and Vanezis (projected Midd #3-5). Two tournament titles as a freshman is an outstanding start to a career and I’m very excited to see whether or not/how Rish uses the winter to improve.
4) Paris Pentousis, sophomore, UTR=11.22, Range: #4-7. The big-hitting Greek sophomore has the ability to beat anybody on the right day, especially if his serve is working, but he took his lumps at #2 singles last spring. Paris had an up and down fall, impressively winning two rounds at the ITA, but bowing out in the first round at Midd, Bates and Wes. Similar to last year at #2, I think Tufts could struggle at this point in their lineup, but Pentousis did beat players like Barr (projected Williams #1-2), Pathi (projected Colby #2-3), and a nationally ranked player in Luke Lemaitre of George Fox. He should be better at this spot in the lineup, right? At worst, you know he can win on any day, which is better than some.
5) Jack Moldenhauer, sophomore, UTR=10.5, Range: #4-7. Moldenhauer impressed during his freshman fall, beating fellow freshman Fortier (projected Bowdoin #3-5) and Ruparel (projected Amherst #4-6), then was above .500 in singles play last spring including a nice win over Williams. All that is to say that we know Jack can hang, although he didnt do it all that much this fall. He had a very tough draw at Midd and lost in a super to Robby Ward (projected Midd #2-5), then he lost in the 2nd round at Bates to Yu (RPI), and again in the 2nd round at Wes to close the fall. However, at Wes he did pick up his best win of the season over Foulkes (projected Amherst #3-5). I think Moldy could be one of the Bos in contention to win a lot of matches at the bottom of the lineup, but I’ll need to see it before I truly believe it.
6) Ethan Bershstein, senior, UTR=10.87, Range: #4-7. My lone projected senior in the singles lineup, this fall Ethan did exactly what Tufts will need him to do in the spring, consistently win the majority of his matches. He went 2-1 at Midd, 2-1 at Bates, and yup…you guessed it…2-1 at Wes. Bersh played in the C-Flight at all three tournaments, and his best wins were actually all over Brandeis. Ethan beat Das, Tegtmeier and Kauppila at the three different fall invitationals, all of whom are in contention to play at the bottom of the Judges’ lineup. I’m not saying EB was a world beater this fall, but there is something to be said about winning with regularity.
In the hunt: Owen Bartok, Josh Belandres, Ben Biswas, Niko Hereford, Nathan Niemiec, Akash Verma. As always, Tufts has a plethora of players who could fill in at the bottom of the lineup, but unlike past years this fall was more regular with fewer rotations. Now, injuries happen, and we didn’t see anything from the senior Niemiec all fall, which could mean a variety of things, but I would be surprised if he (when healthy) isn’t in the doubles lineup this spring. Similarly, I fully expect the freshman Belandres to not only play in the doubles lineup, but his most likely landing spot is at the top with everybody’s favorite national champion. Bartok and Hereford have played some in the past, with Niko contributing more in doubles as well, but they could find themselves the odd men out. Bis is a case that seems to happen with Tufts over the past few years. He is one of the few seniors, has played in the lineup in the past, and not just at the bottom, but his fall results don’t necessarily warrant lineup consideration. That said, don’t overlook the experience factor, and if the bottom of the lineup does falter, he might be one of the first to get a shot.
After playing a lot of tennis this fall, Tufts opens up their spring season hosting a doubleheader at home in early March against Babson and Conn. The Bos shouldnt have too much trouble with either, and I really like the fact that they’re getting a couple matches under their belts before heading off on their annual spring break trip to California. In Cali, Tufts once again plays out of conference matches against Swat, Caltech and Sewanee, which be a great early measuring stick for Coach Gregor’s crew. These are not gimme matches, but they are the sort of matches Tufts will need to win if they are to make a run this spring.
Then, Tufts will be a part of the glorious tradition that is Stag-Hen! We will really see what this team is made of as they play three matches in 36 hours starting with Pomona-Pitzer. They obviously need to win to leave the west coast feeling like they have a realistic shot at a Pool-C berth, but a win against PP is crucial because sets up a no-loss situation against Emory in the semis. BUT, the potential of a 3rd place match against Amherst is MASSIVE. Realistically, Tufts will be very much alive if they go 1-2, so long as the one win is against PP to start, but 2-1 (again assuming the 1 loss is not PP), actually puts the Bos in the drivers seat, which is very much unfamiliar territory.
Upon returning to the East Coast, Tufts has an interesting weekend going to MIT, and then apparently both hosting Amherst and going to Bates on the same day? That seems reckless, but the Amherst match doesn’t have a time listed so perhaps that match has been or will be moved. I would be very worried about going to both MIT and Bates, as both are notoriously tough places to play indoors.
April doesn’t get any easier, as Tufts starts off at Brandeis in what could be a VITAL Pool-C match for both teams. After that the Bos finish with more conference play hosting Midd and Colby before going to Trinity and Williams to end the regular season. Something to note, the schedule currently finished on April 19th, which is earlier than the regular season usually ends. It’s possible Tufts has finals the following week and front-loaded their schedule, it’s possible more matches will be added as neither Bowdoin nor Wesleyan currently is on the schedule. All we know for now is that NESCACs are scheduled for the first weekend in May at Amherst, so that two-week break is extremely unusual.
One season preview down, about 40ish to go…May God have mercy on our souls too…
No Carl Grant for Tufts this year?
He’s not listed on the roster page. This is a good call though bc I should have mentioned him in the key losses section. He would have been a lineup contributor
Yay! 1st one. Time to get educated.